TEN QUESTIONS WITH…
In every issue we put our 10 Questions to a flooring industry professional. This month, we caught up with Paul Woolvine, CEO of IOBAC.
is not a person, he would make a great employee because he is loyal, always happy to see me, very optimistic and loves to be rewarded. George is also very intelligent and has a great amount of energy which is just what we like at IOBAC.
Q5
Q1 Q2
What was your first job? I was a trainee manager in a
builders’ merchants in Dorset.
How did you get into the industry?
I ran the floorcare division and an industrial coating business at 3M UK PLC. That was my first exposure into the flooring industry: selling and marketing Scotch-Brite Floor Pads and various industrial floor coatings. In 2016 I made the move to IOBAC with the patent assigned from 3M and in 2017 I became IOBAC’s CEO. Now I’m responsible for driving the adoption and use of patented IOBAC technologies worldwide.
Q3 Q4
What has been your proudest moment?
My proudest moment has to be when I became a dad to my first-born son Harry in 1999. He now towers over me and is working hard as an intern at Jaguar Land Rover. Harry has made me a very proud father.
If you could hire any one person to be part of your
team, who would it be and why? I would have to say that I would hire George, my cocker spaniel! Although George has four paws and
54 | 10 QUESTIONS
What’s the best advice you could give to
someone new coming into the industry? Keep your sense of humour, always look on the bright side of life, always approach things with a fresh way of thinking and be open to seeing things differently.
Q6 Q7
If you could be any character from film or
TV who would you be? Bodhi from Point Break!
What do you think are the positive and negative
aspects of the flooring trade? The positives of the flooring trade are that it is becoming a hive of innovation with new ways of laying floors – like magnetic floors. There are also new materials for floor finishes available now and new uses for floors that people didn’t think were possible – such as intelligent flooring.
The negatives are that flooring is undervalued as a trade. Compared with building trades, the contractor rates are too low, and popular top surfaces like luxury vinyl tiles are being forced to become commoditised with prices forced down by oversupply.
Q8
What do you think the future holds for
flooring design? Technology will definitely play a significant role in the future of flooring design. There are and will be new flexible ways of laying floors and
I love cricket! I am privileged to play every Sunday at the “Cradle of Cricket”: Broadhalfpenny Down near Hambledon. It’s where the laws of cricket were written over 250 years ago and it is also where the first-class match was played. The centre then moved to Marylebone CC in the late 1700s.
www.iobac.com
Check out next month’s issue to see what Paul asked our next industry professional…
new materials, like graphene, which will make lighter weight, stronger, and colour-changing floors.
Q9
If you weren’t in flooring, what career
would you choose? I would probably have become a lawyer as the reward is good, and you get to mitigate your own risk! You seemingly can’t lose.
Q10
Nigel Welsh, managing director,
Laser Measure Australia Pty Ltd & MeasureSquare UK Ltd asked: “Outside of the flooring industry what is your passion?”
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